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Enough blame in the franchise to go beyond Nolan

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, October 22, 2008

General manager of the San Francisco 49ers Scot McCloughan introduces Mike Singletary during a press conference at the 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara.

General manager of the San Francisco 49ers Scot McCloughan introduces Mike Singletary during a press conference at the 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara.

Photo: Frederic Larson, The Chronicle

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The first thing Mike Singletary tried to fix Tuesday was the loose microphone stand atop the podium at 49ers headquarters. It was off-kilter. Before he spoke his first words as the 49ers' head coach, Singletary stopped everything to straighten it.

Was this a sign of things to come?

Will Singletary be able to repair a broken-down franchise that hasn't been relevant in years and has become the NFL's version of a Bentley sitting on blocks?

Not likely. Not unless the 49ers change everything about the way they run their football operation.

Singletary has nine games to prove himself before the franchise will embark on more head-coaching reconnaissance in January. Designating Singletary as only an interim solution was the one intelligent move that came out of Santa Clara in the last 36 hours.

Rather than rubber-stamp an energetic, inspiring but totally unproven linebackers coach as the 49ers' long-term solution, the team's brain trust did the prudent thing and promised to give Singletary every opportunity to retain the job once the season ends.

At the same time, 49ers ownership should make every person in the building at 4949 Centennial Boulevard accountable. Every player, coach, anyone involved in player evaluation, scouting and personnel, as well as the entire front office, must be evaluated and graded. Are these people contributing to the problems of the past six seasons, or can they be integral to the solution?

This includes general manager Scot McCloughan, who received his promotion - along with a new contract - in January, and followed that with an unexceptional draft that has had only wide receiver Josh Morgan (sixth round) make a legitimate contribution at a time when the 49ers desperately needed an infusion of young players.

Teams such as the Patriots can lose Tom Brady and remain on track. Why? Because they enter each season with a careful plan, good depth and strong leadership.

That is because of a front-office structure of sound, powerful ownership (Robert Kraft), a respected team president/CEO with experience in league matters (Jonathan Kraft) and a general manager/personnel man (Scott Pioli) who is respected for his ability to identify and secure skilled players who will win for him.

The Patriots' team structure demands that the head coach complement Pioli, not the other way around. It just so happens that Bill Belichick is on board with everything.

In Atlanta, we're seeing a renaissance because embattled Falcons owner Arthur Blank identified and plucked a brilliant young scout from the Patriots' organization, Thomas Dimitroff, and anointed him general manager while keeping Falcons President Rich McKay in his administrative post. Dimitroff hired the right coach, Mike Smith - a highly respected NFL assistant - and changed the franchise's direction with a smart draft (quarterback Matt Ryan) and free-agent haul (running back Michael Turner).

"New England is truly about the team," Dimitroff said when he was hired. "There are people in place who believe in one direction. That starts from the bottom up."

As an organization, the 49ers haven't been about "team" or continuity for a long time.

They have been about patching holes with expensive, ill-conceived free-agent decisions (Antonio Bryant, Derek Smith, Jonas Jennings, Ashley Lelie, Tully Banta-Cain) and poor draft-day decisions. By now, we've learned the hard way - the 49ers should not pick a system quarterback in the first round ever, or repeat the mistake of drafting a tight end sixth overall. Bad, bad, bad.

Mike Nolan's dismissal late Monday was 10 months overdue. But to be fair, Nolan came to the organization on the heels of the truly awful Dennis Erickson/Terry Donahue era (9-23). Singletary tried to remind everyone of this.

"I don't think they really, truly understand what Mike had to do when he came here and what he's built. To me, the next step is not as hard as the first. What he had to do was very difficult. He set the foundation," Singletary said. "All I'm going to do is build upon that foundation."

It's not a very solid foundation, but Singletary said he won't take a sledgehammer to it.

"I'm not going to come in and make a lot of changes and do a lot of this and do a lot of that. I'm just going to be myself. ... I'm going to be very, very diligent in terms of whatever it is, finding whatever it is, I will find it," he said. "And somehow, some way, it will show itself."

Jed York, 27, is learning on the job and he sounds sincere in his desire to change the 49ers.

"The San Francisco 49ers have a tradition of winning. Every decision that we make is aimed at re-establishing that culture of winning, and I promise that I won't rest until we re-establish a championship culture," York said.

"We have talent. There's no doubt that we have talent," York said. "We've got Pro Bowlers on all three phases of the ball. What we're lacking right now is that killer instinct, that finishing ability."

Maybe Jed York is the next Jonathan Kraft. Perhaps the 49ers have another Belichick or Mike Smith in Mike Singletary.

Right now, we're not convinced McCloughan is another Pioli or Dimitroff. Like Singletary, he remains unproven and should be on notice.

Gentlemen, you have 10 weeks. York family, you've got a busy offseason ahead of you to make some hard decisions, with little margin for error.

-- Mike Nolan thanks the York family for the opportunity to coach the 49ers. D3

Statement from Mike Nolan

I want to thank the York family for the opportunity to coach the San Francisco 49ers.

It is the responsibility of the head coach to build a foundation and an environment for success. In many areas we were, although it is winning that ultimately determines success.

I also want to thank our players for their dedication and willingness to work hard. Even during the toughest of times, they remained strong and fought through it. It is difficult to put into words my respect for guys who played for the 49ers over the past 3 1/2 seasons. They have my complete respect and admiration. I am forever indebted to them.